Doll carrying a marking means, with paint receptacle and accessory having movable marking surface

ABSTRACT

A combination doll and accessory set wherein the doll has a movable body portion and a movable arm connected to the body portion and adapted to hold a paint brush or the like. The accessory set includes a platen on which paper or the like may be positioned to receive paint from the paint brush. The platen is mounted on a base structure in front of the doll, and a manually actuatable mechanism within the base structure is operatively connected to a mechanism on the doll whereby the mechanism within the platen base structure can be operated by a user, as by a crank. Rotation of the crank rotates the platen and simultaneously moves the doll&#39;&#39;s body portion and arm back and forth to carry the paint brush therewith alternately between the platen and a paint container positioned alongside the doll but spaced from the platen.

United States Patent Breslow et al. 1 July 1, 1975 [54] DOLL CARRYING AMARKING MEANS, 3,325,902 6/1967 Schuman 33/18 B WITH PAINT RECEPTACLEAND 3,343,281 9/1967 Greer et 31.. 46/117 X 3,629,971 12/1971 Antell elal, 1 46/116 X ACCESSORY HAVING MOVABLE 3,680,254 8/1972 Glass a a1. 4.46/116 x MARKING SURFACE [75] Inventors: Jeffrey D. Breslow, HighlandPark; FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS E g Jaworski, P Ridge both 80,5457/1919 Swnzerland 46/118 of 111. Primary Examiner-Barry Shay [73]Ass1gnee: Marvm Glass & Assoclates, Attorney, Agent, or FirmCoffee &Sweeney Chicago, 111.

[22] Filed: June 26, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT Appl. No.: 483,366

Related [1.8. Application Data A combination doll and accessory setwherein the doll has a movable body portion and a movable arm connectedto the body portion and adapted to hold a paint brush or the like. Theaccessory set includes a platen on which paper or the like may bepositioned to receive paint from the paint brush The platen is mountedon a base structure in front of the doll, and a manually actuatablemechanism within the base structure is operatively connected to amechanism on the doll whereby the mechanism within the platen basestructure can be operated by a user, as by a crank. Rotation of thecrank rotates the platen and simulta' neously moves the dolls bodyportion and arm back and forth to carry the paint brush therewithalternately between the platen and a paint container posi' tionedalongside the doll but spaced from the platen.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures DOLL CARRYING A MARKING MEANS, WITH PAINTRECEPTACLE AND ACCESSORY HAVING MOVABLE MARKING SURFACE CROSS REFERENCETO OTHER APPLICATIONS This is a division of application Ser. No.326,874, filed .Ian. 26, I973, now US. Pat. No. 3,834,070.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to dolls,and more particularly to a combination doll and accessory apparatus.

In recent years a great number of different types of dolls have beendeveloped and marketed which are capable of performing simulated humanfunctions. These include dolls that walk, dance, apparently verballyrespond to external stimulus, and the like. There has further been thedevelopment of dolls which can apparently participate with the child insome sort of an activity. These include dolls that repeat or simulatewriting in unison with writing movements of the child by interconnectingmechanism, as well as dolls which apparently perform such activities asoperating an electric mixer within a mixing bowl. Those dolls whichappear to be capable of simulating human functions in response toinstructions, usually in the form of instructional manual manipulations,are of greater fascination to children as well as furthering theireducation and developing manual dexterity. This invention is directedtowards contributing to the continuing need and desire in the art toprovide an improved doll which is capable of simulating human functionsand participating with a child.

This invention is directed, in brief, to the provision of an improveddoll and related auxiliary apparatus for performing a simulated humanfunction.

The principal object, therefore, of the present invention is to providea combination doll and accessory set of the character described.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, a dished out platen isrotatably mounted on top of an upright supporting structure which, inturn, is mounted on a generally flat support base. A crank member ispivotally mounted on the front of the upright support structure andprotrudes forwardly from the front thereof for rotation by a child. Thecrank is connected to a gear train on the inside of the supportstructure for rotating the platen. The platen is a dished out structurehaving a generally flat bottom wall for receiving a sheet of paper, orthe like, on which painting markings are made.

The doll itself is positionable behind the platen and has an upper torsoportion movable relative to a lower torso portion, an arm member movablerelative to the upper torso portion, and a head reciprocally movable ontop of the upper torso portion. The arm member has a hand portion forreceiving a paint brush or the like for painting on a sheet of paperpositioned on top of the platen. A paint receptacle is mounted on theflat base alongside of the doll. Mechanism which is mounted on theinside of the doll is operatively connected through a flexible cable tothe operative mechanism on the inside of the platen support structure sothat the various parts of the doll are moved in response to a userrotating the aforementioned crank member. In particular, the doll ismade to alternately turn and move the paint brush between a paintingposition above the platen and a paint dipping position above the paintreceptacle, all in response to rotation of the crank member which alsorotates the platen and the sheet of paper positioned thereon.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of thecombination doll and accessory set of this invention, with the dollcomponents facing forward in a painting position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. I but with the dollupper torso portion and arm pivoted to receive paint from the paintreceptacle;

FIG. 3 is a front to rear vertical section, on an enlarged scale,through the platen, its support structure and the doll, with the dollshead broken away;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 4-4 of FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken generally along the line S-5 ofFIG. 4',

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken generally along the line 6-6 ofFIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a portion of the base structure takengenerally in the direction of line 77 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The combination doll and relatedaccessories of the present invention includes a doll, generallydesignated 10, and accessory components, generally designated 12a and[2b, which are mounted on a generally flat base structure 14. The dollI0 is positionable on the flat base structure 14. The accessory 12adefines a painting area and, as described in greater detail hereinafter,has a platen, generally designated 16, for receiving a sheet of paper18, or the like, on which the doll apparently paints a design. Theaccessory 12b is a paint receptacle and, as best seen in FIGS. I and 2and as described in greater detail hereinafter, the doll is movablebetween positions where it apparently paints designs in the posi tionshown in FIG. I and where it accumulates paint onto a paint brush 20 ina dipping" motion when in the position shown in FIG. 2.

The platen accessory 12a is shown best in section in FIG. 3 where it canbe seen that the platen I6 is a dished out structure having a generallyflat bottom wall 22 on which the paper 18 is positionable, with afrustoconical side wall 24 surrounding the paper. The platen 16 isrotatably mounted on top of an upright support structure in the form ofa housing 26 within which is mounted mechanism for rotating the platen.

More particularly, a crank member 28, having a manually manipulatablehandle portion 30, protrudes for wardly from the support structure orhousing 26 and extends into the housing through an aperture 32. Thecrank 28 is connected at its inner end to a gear member 34 which is partof a gear train, generally designated 36, rotatably mounted within thehousing 26 on a generally U-shaped bracket 38. Gear member 34 is in meshwith a smaller diameter gear member 40 rotatably mounted within thebracket 38 by a shaft member 42. Thus the speed of rotation is steppedup from the larger gear 34 to the smaller gear 40. The front end of theshaft 42 is fixed to a cup gear 44 having a circular row of gear teeth44a which are in mesh with a smaller gear 46 fixed to an uprightrotatable shaft 48. Again, there is a step up of speed from gear 44 togear 46. The upright shaft 48 is journalled in the bracket 38 andextends upwardly through an aperture 50 in the top of the housing 26.The shaft is connected to the platen 16 by means of an irregularlyshaped plug 52 positioned within a complementarily shaped socket 54 onthe underside of the bottom wall 22 of the platen.

Thus, as the crank 28 is rotated by a user grasping the handle portion30 thereof, that rotational motion is transmitted through the gear train36, particularly gears 34 and 40, to the platen [6 through the gears 44and 46, the latter of which is connected to the shaft 48. Due to thespeed step-up from the gears, the platen I6 is caused to rotate at asubstantially faster speed than the crank 28. In fact. due to the massof the platen, somewhat of a flywheel effect is created and, if thecrank is rotated sufficiently fast, paint deposited on the sheet 18 willbe caused to spread radially outwardly under centrifugal force as theplaten is rotated.

The upright housing or support structure 26 for the platen 16 has a flatbase 56 which is positioned on top of the generally flat base structureI4. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 7, a pin 58 protrudes upwardly from thebase structure 14 through an elongated slot 60 in the base 56 for theplaten whereby the entire housing or support structure 26, and thus theplaten 16, can be moved back and forth between limit positions definedby the ends of the slot 60. This movement affords a degree of patternchanging for the design which is painted on the paper 18, by being ableto adjust the platen bodily relative to the doll l and paint brush 20.

The doll has the usual head 62, torso, generally designated 63, a pairof arms 64a and 64b, and a pair of legs 66. The torso 63 is comprised ofan upper torso portion 68 mounted for limited pivotal or twistingmovement relative to a lower torso portion 70. The legs 66 are rotatablymounted to the trunk of the lower torso portion 70 by means ofcylindrical portions 72 received within apertures 74 in the lower torsoportion, with a circular or annular flange 76 extending radiallyoutwardly from each of the cylindrical portions 72 on the inside of thelower torso portion 70.

The arms 64a and 64b are rotatably mounted on the side of the uppertorso portion 68 by means of a ball and socket type joint, with anenlarged ball portion 78 snap fit within a smaller diameter aperture 80in the shoulder areas of the upper torso portion 68.

Before going into the operating mechanism for the doll. it should bepointed out briefly that the dolls right arm 64a is mechanically movablerelative to the upper torso portion 68, the upper torso portion 68 ismechanically movable relative to the lower torso portion 70 in atwisting type action, and the head 62 is reciprocally movable in alimited up and down bobbing motion.

The mechanism for moving the various components of the doll is shownbest in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6. Referring first to FIG. 3. the doll isoperatively connected to the crank 28 by means of a flexible stub-likerotatable cable 82. The cable 82 has an irregularly shaped socket 84 onthe front end thereof for receiving a complementarily shaped plug 86which is fixed to the rear end 88 of the crank 28. Thus, as the crank isrotated by a user, the cable 82 also is rotated at the same speed.

The rear end of the cable 82 has an irregularly shaped plug 90 which isreceived within a complementarily shaped socket 92 rotatably mounted inthe front of the lower torso portion within an aperture 94 in the lowertorso portionv The inner end of the socket 92 is fixed to a plate 96which has a shape best shown in FIG. 4. A shaft member 98 is fixed tothe plate 96 for rotation therewith. The shaft 98 is spaced radiallyoutwardly from the axis of rotation of the socket 92 so as to beeccentric thereto as best seen in FIG. 4. The shaft 98 extendsrearwardly within the lower torso portion 70 and is connected at itsrear end to another plate 100 which is similar to plate 96 and which ispivotally mounted by means of a pin 102 to a boss 104 formed integrallywith the inside of the lower torso portion 70. The pin 102 is concentricwith the axis of rotation of the socket 92. Thus, as the socket 92 isrotated in response to rotation of the crank 28, the shaft 98 rotates inan eccentric path which is shaped in the form of a cylinder about theaxis of pin 102 and socket 92.

In order to rotate the upper torso portion 68 relative to the lowertorso portion 70 between the positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a framepiece 106 is fixed to the upper torso portion and extends downwardlyinto the lower torso portion through an enlarged opening 108, as bestseen in FIG. 4. The frame piece 106 has an inverted U-shaped portion atthe lower end thereof defining downwardly depending ears 110a and I 10bposi tioned on opposite sides of the shaft 98. The shaft 98 is shown inFIG. 4 in one extreme side position bearing against the ear 110a whichdefines the forwardly facing position of the doll as shown in FIGS. Iand 4. As the shaft 98 is rotated by the crank 28, away from theposition shown in FIG. 4, the shaft 98 will come into abutment with theear [10b and move the frame piece 106 in the direction of arrow A (FIG.4) to cause the upper torso portion 68 of the doll to move or twistsideways relative to the lower torso portion 170 to the position shownin FIG. 2.

Simultaneously with the movement of the upper torso portion 68, theright arm 64a of the doll is caused to move upwardly lifting the paintbrush 20 away from the platen l6 and then move the arm and brush backdownwardly toward the paint receptacle 12b when the doll reaches theside facing position shown in FIG. 2. More particularly, a flexiblestrap 112 extends through apertures I14 and 116 in the upper torsoportion 68 and an aperture 118 in the lower torso portion 70. A levermember 120 is pivotally mounted by a pin I22 to a pair of tabs 124 onthe inside of the lower torso portion 70. The lever is connected to thelower end of strap 112 by a pin 126. The upper end of the strap 112 isconnected to a pin 128 which protrudes rearwardly from an enlarged shaftportion I30 fixed to the ball portion 78 of the dolls right arm 64a onthe inside of the upper torso portion 68. The weight of the arm 640should be sufficient to normally bias the enlarged shaft portion 130 inthe direction of arrow B (FIG. 3) to bias the lever member 12 againstthe underside of the eccentric plate l00 which rotates with the crank28, as described above. Thus. as best seen in FIG. 4, as the shaft 98 isrotated clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 4, the "eccentricportion of the plate 100 will come into abutment with the top of thelever I20 and cause the lever to move downwardly about pivot pin 122.This causes the flexible strap 112 to move downwardly in the directionof arrow C (FIG. 4) which, in turn, pulls on the pin 128 to rotate theshaft 130 opposite the direction of arrow B (FIG. 3) and raise the dollsright arm 640 along with the paint brush 20. As the shaft 98 continuesto rotate, it will bear against the ear 110!) to pivot the upper torsoportion 58 to the right toward the paint receptacle 12!), while at thesame time the eccentric portion of plate 100 will move upwardly off ofthe lever 120 and permit the arm 64a to move downwardly to pick up paintat the paint receptacle 12b. As the shaft 98 continues to rotate to comeback to the position shown in FIG. 4, it will bear against ear 110a andmove the upper torso 68 back to the forwardly facing position and movethe paint brush into paint depositing position above the platen.However, the paint brush must be raised slightly to lift it out of thepaint at receptacle 1212 before the shaft 98 engages ear 110a to pivotthe upper torso. This is accomplished by shaping plate 100 so that theradial distance between the axis of pin 102 and the perimeter of theplate 100 at point 1000 (FIG. 4) is slightly greater than the radialdistance between the axis of pin 102 and the perimeter of the plate 100at point l00b (FIG. 4).

Movement of the head 62 relative to the upper torso portion 68 iseffected by means of a lever member 131 having an inverted U-shapedportion at the lower end thereof defining downwardly depending ears 132aand l32b. A tab 134 is fixed to the shaft portion 130 for the dollsright arm 64a and extends upwardly between the ears 132a and 132b. Theupper end of the lever member 131 is fixed to a shaft 136 which also isfixed to a cylindrical portion 138 on the inside of the dolls head 62.The cylindrical portion loosely surrounds a cylindrical member 139 onthe top of the upper torso portion 68. Thus, as the dolls right arm 64ais raised, the tab 134 on the shaft portion 130 of the arm engages ear[32b and causes the dolls head to tilt slightly forward. As the dollsarm again is lowered, the tab 134 will abut against ear 132a and causethe dolls head again to tilt back upwardly.

Thus it can be seen that the relative movement of the doll's upper andlower torso portions, the relative movement between the doll's right armand the upper torso portion, and the movement of the dolls head portionrelative to the upper torso portion, all are synchronized for movementin response to rotation of the crank 28.

The paint receptacle 12b is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 and includes anupright post member 140 fixed to the top of the flat base [4 andextending upwardly therefrom. A receptacle plate 142 is rotatablymounted by means of a screw 144 and washer 146 to the top of the post140 for rotation in the plane of the plate 142 about the upright axis ofthe post. The plate has a plurality of recesses I48 spaced thereaboutfor receiving different colors of paint 150. The paint receptacle 12b ispositioned so that the paint brush will be dipped into a particular oneof the recesses [48 as shown in FIG. 2. In order to change the color ofpaint to be applied to the paper 18, the receptacle plate 142 simply isrotated to bring another of the recesses 148 into the position of theparticular recess as shown in FIG. 2.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

We claim:

1. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising:

an accessory comprising means defining a marking area including meansdefining a movably mounted marking surface for holding material to bemarked;

means defining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking areaincluding a torso having a head mounted on the top thereof and armsconnected to said torso with a hand at the end of at least one of thearms, said one arm being mounted for move ment relative to said torso,said doll and accessory including selectively actuatable drive means formoving said arm between a first position wherein said hand is generallyover said marking surface and a second position away from said markingsurface defining a substantially constant path of travel therebetween;

a paint brush mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movementtherewith so that said paint brush will contact material on said markingsurface when said arm is in said first position;

said drive means being operably connected to said movable arm and saidmarking surface for moving said arm between said positions while, at thesame time, moving said marking surface relative to said paint brush whensaid movable arm is in said first position; and

means defining a receptacle for paint positioned adjacent said doll, thepaint brush receiving paint from said receptacle when said movable armis in the second position.

2. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising:

an accessory comprising means defining a marking area including amovably mounted marking surface for holding material to be marked;

a receptacle spaced from said marking area for receiving paint therein,

means defining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking area andsaid receptacle, said doll body including a torso having a head mountedon the top thereof and arms connected to the torso with hands at theends of the arms, one of said arms being mounted for movement relativeto said torso; paint brush mounted on the hand of the movable arm formovement therewith so that said paint brush will contact said markingsurface when said arm is in the first position and dip into saidreceptacle for receiving paint therefrom when said arm is in said secondposition; and

selectively actuatable drive means for moving said movable arm between afirst position wherein said hand is generally over said marking surfaceand a second position wherein said hand is generally over saidreceptacle, and for moving said marking surface, said drive meansincluding a rotatable manually manipulatable member on said accessory,rotating means mounted on said accessory operatively associated betweenthe manually manipulatable member and the marking surface for rotatingthe marking surface relative to the paint brush when the movable arm isin the first position, and doll moving means mounted in the torsooperatively associated between said manually manipulatalbe member andsaid movable arm for moving said arm between its two positions inresponse to the rotation of said manipulatable member.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said doll body includes upper andlower relatively movable torso pormeans includes a connecting member forconnecting the rotating means with said doll moving means so thatrotating of the manipulatable member causes actuation of said rotatingmeans which causes actuation of said doll moving means.

6. The combination of claim 2 wherein said doll moving means includesmeans for alternately raising and lowering said doll arm and hand tolift the paint brush off of said marking surface and to dip" the paintbrush into the paint at said receptaclev

1. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising: an accessorycomprising means defining a marking area including means defining amovably mounted marking surface for holding material to be marked; meansdefining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking area including atorso having a head mounted on the top thereof and arms connected tosaid torso with a hand at the end of at least one of the arms, said onearm being mounted for movement relative to said torso, said doll andaccessory including selectively actuatable drive means for moving saidarm between a first position wherein said hand is generally over saidmarking surface and a second position away from said marking surfacedefining a substantially constant path of travel therebetween; a paintbrush mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movement therewith sothat said paint brush will contact material on said marking surface whensaid arm is in said first position; saId drive means being operablyconnected to said movable arm and said marking surface for moving saidarm between said positions while, at the same time, moving said markingsurface relative to said paint brush when said movable arm is in saidfirst position; and means defining a receptacle for paint positionedadjacent said doll, the paint brush receiving paint from said receptaclewhen said movable arm is in the second position.
 2. In combination, adoll and accessory set, comprising: an accessory comprising meansdefining a marking area including a movably mounted marking surface forholding material to be marked; a receptacle spaced from said markingarea for receiving paint therein; means defining a doll bodypositionable adjacent said marking area and said receptacle, said dollbody including a torso having a head mounted on the top thereof and armsconnected to the torso with hands at the ends of the arms, one of saidarms being mounted for movement relative to said torso; a paint brushmounted on the hand of the movable arm for movement therewith so thatsaid paint brush will contact said marking surface when said arm is inthe first position and dip into said receptacle for receiving painttherefrom when said arm is in said second position; and selectivelyactuatable drive means for moving said movable arm between a firstposition wherein said hand is generally over said marking surface and asecond position wherein said hand is generally over said receptacle, andfor moving said marking surface, said drive means including a rotatablemanually manipulatable member on said accessory, rotating means mountedon said accessory operatively associated between the manuallymanipulatable member and the marking surface for rotating the markingsurface relative to the paint brush when the movable arm is in the firstposition, and doll moving means mounted in the torso operativelyassociated between said manually manipulatalbe member and said movablearm for moving said arm between its two positions in response to therotation of said manipulatable member.
 3. The combination of claim 2wherein said doll body includes upper and lower relatively movable torsoportions, said doll moving means being operatively connected to saidtorso portions for effecting relative movement between the torsoportions simultaneously with the movement of the marking surface and thearm and hand.
 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said head isrelatively movable with respect to the torso portions and is operativelyconnected to said doll moving means for effecting simultaneous relativemovement between the head and body and between the torso portions. 5.The combination of claim 2 wherein said drive means includes aconnecting member for connecting the rotating means with said dollmoving means so that rotating of the manipulatable member causesactuation of said rotating means which causes actuation of said dollmoving means.
 6. The combination of claim 2 wherein said doll movingmeans includes means for alternately raising and lowering said doll armand hand to lift the paint brush off of said marking surface and to''''dip'''' the paint brush into the paint at said receptacle.